Migraine is a disabling condition; approximately 14% of the population suffer from this pathology with a peak incidence between 25 and 55 years of age. Various pharmacological interventions are used, however patients continue to experience severe disruption from the migraine and/or side effects from medication.
Ozone therapy as been reported to help with migraine and the effect is long lasting after cessation of therapy. Ozone's effects on various biochemical processes in the body (such as lipid peroxidation) and ozone's ability to improve oxygen delivery to tissues have been suggested as possible mechanisms of action.
A trial in Russia tested the potential of ozone therapy on 68 patients with chronic migraine (40 received ozone therapy and 28 received placebo) . The trial reported significant improvement in migraine frequency and severity with the use of ozonated saline infusion. 58% of the patients that received the ozone therapy had no attacks for 3-5 months after ozone therapy; less intensity of headache was observed after they relapsed.
Another trial led by Prof Bocci, reported similar findings on a smaller number of patients with severe migraine. The authors reported that “the number of headache episodes pretreatment was significantly decreased during the first 6 months post-treatment”.
More recently, another Italian study of case reports for 2 patients (a boy and an adult woman) with severe disabling migraines showed significant improvements just after a few cycles of ozone therapy. The young boy reported that before the treatment the pain was daily and he was always feeling tired. After 17 days of treatment, he reported an increased sense of wellness and a significant reduction of headache episodes, which completely disappeared immediately after the treatment cycles. 6 months after the end of the therapy, the patient reported to have experienced no more than 2 headache episodes in a month. The other patients (an adult lady) suffered severe recurrent migraine attacks that failed to respond to the usual therapy supervised by her neurologist in the hospital’s headache clinic. After only 3 therapy sessions, she reported an improvement in headache as well as in general well-being. At the end of the eighth infusion, she reported complete disappearance of the headache, associated with a reduced tiredness, an improvement in mood (especially on waking) and a greater concentration ability.
Our own experience at Leicester Ozone Clinic reflects the results presented above. The efficacy of ozone therapy in the treatment of headache certainly worth further clinical studies with a greater number of patients to evaluate this potential therapy.
